Farmers Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Farmers Trust Co. reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded down $2.51 on Wednesday, hitting $360.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,234,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,518,635. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $383.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.06. The firm has a market cap of $174.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.